Touch screen display device and method of driving the same

ABSTRACT

A touch screen display device includes; a touch screen display panel including; first sensing lines which extend in a first direction, second sensing lines which extend in a second direction, and a plurality of touch sensors located at a plurality of sensing positions, each of which provides touch data or untouch data, a readout unit which reads the touch data or the untouch data and outputs the read data as sensing data corresponding to each of the sensing positions, and a sensing unit which groups the sensing positions into at least one pre-touch areas using the sensing data and which recognizes at least one touch positions using the pre-touch areas, wherein when first and third sensing positions from among first through third sensing positions provide the touch data while the second sensing position provides the untouch data, the sensing unit recognizes the untouch data as the touch data.

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2009-0028481, filed on Apr. 2, 2009, and all the benefits accruingtherefrom under 35 U.S.C. §119, the content of which in its entirety isherein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relates to a touch screendisplay device, and more particularly, to a touch screen display devicewith enhanced reliability.

2. Description of the Related Art

A touch screen display device is a display device having a touch screenfunction. A user may touch a point on a touch screen display deviceusing a portion of the body to instruct the execution of a desiredoperation. Since display devices having the touch screen functionprovide an intuitive interface by which a user can easily inputinformation, they are widely being used.

A touch screen display device includes a plurality of pixels whichdisplay images and a plurality of touch sensors which sense positionstouched by a user. A gate signal and a data signal are typicallytransmitted to each pixel, and each touch sensor provides an outputsignal according to whether or not it has been touched.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a touch screendisplay device with enhanced reliability.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention also provide a method ofdriving a touch screen display device with enhanced reliability.

However, the present invention is not restricted to the exemplaryembodiments set forth herein. The above and other aspects of the presentinvention will become more apparent to one of ordinary skill in the artto which the present invention pertains by referencing the detaileddescription of the present invention given below.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a touchscreen display device includes; a touch screen display panel whichincludes; a plurality of first sensing lines which extend in a firstdirection, a plurality of second sensing lines which extend in a seconddirection substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and aplurality of touch sensors which are respectively located at a pluralityof sensing positions defined in regions where the plurality of firstsensing lines are aligned with the plurality of second sensing lines,respectively, and each of which provides one of a touch data and anuntouch data according to whether an individual touch sensorcorresponding to the aligned first sensing line and second sensing linehas been touched, a readout unit which reads one of the touch data andthe untouch data from each of the touch sensors and outputs the readdata as sensing data corresponding to each of the sensing positions, anda sensing unit which groups the sensing positions into at least onepre-touch area using the sensing data and which recognizes at least onetouch position using the at least one pre-touch area, wherein at leastone touch sensor provides touch data, wherein when a first sensingposition and a third sensing position from among first through thirdsensing positions arranged sequentially in the second direction providethe touch data while the second sensing position provides the untouchdata, the sensing unit recognizes the untouch data provided at thesecond sensing position as the touch data and groups the first throughthird sensing positions into a pre-touch area.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, atouch screen display device includes; a touch screen display panel whichincludes; a plurality of first sensing lines which extend in a firstdirection, a plurality of second sensing lines which extend in a seconddirection substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and aplurality of touch sensors which are respectively located at a pluralityof sensing positions defined in regions where the plurality of firstsensing lines are aligned with the plurality of second sensing lines,respectively, and each of which provides one of a touch data and anuntouch data according to whether an individual touch sensorcorresponding to the aligned first sensing line and second sensing linehas been touched, a readout unit which reads one of the touch data andthe untouch data from each of the plurality of touch sensors and outputsthe read data as sensing data corresponding to each of the plurality ofsensing positions, and a sensing unit which groups the sensing positionsinto at least one pre-touch area using the sensing data and whichrecognizes at least one touch positions using the at least one pre-toucharea when at least one touch sensor provides touch data, wherein whenall of a plurality of sensing positions included in a pre-touch areacorrespond to the same second sensing line, the pre-touch area isrecognized as an untouch position.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, amethod of driving a touch screen display device includes; reading one oftouch data and untouch data from each of a plurality of touch sensorsand providing the read data as sensing data which corresponds to each ofa plurality of sensing positions corresponding to respective locationsof the plurality of touch sensors; and grouping the sensing positionsinto at least one pre-touch area based on the sensing data andrecognizing at least one touch position based on the pre-touch areausing a sensing unit when at least one touch sensor reads touch data,wherein each of the plurality of touch sensors are respectively locatedat the plurality of sensing positions which are defined in regions wherea plurality of first sensing lines extending in a first directionrespectively are aligned with a plurality of second sensing linesextending in a second direction, and, in the grouping of the sensingpositions into the pre-touch areas, when a first sensing position and athird sensing position from among first through third sensing positionsarranged sequentially in the second direction provide the touch datawhile the second sensing position provides the untouch data, the untouchdata provided at the second sensing position is recognized as the touchdata, and the first through third sensing positions are grouped into apre-touch area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, advantages and features of the presentinvention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplaryembodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a touch screendisplay device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a sensing unitshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment ofthe operation of the exemplary embodiment of a touch screen displaydevice shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of theoperation of a touch position determination unit according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of operationS100 of FIG. 4 in more detail;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of operationS110 of FIG. 5 in more detail;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of operationS200 of FIG. 4 in more detail;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating an exemplary embodiment ofoperation S240 of FIG. 7 in more detail;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of operationS300 of FIG. 4 in more detail; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of operationS400 of FIG. 4 in more detail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsof the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as being limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and willfully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout thespecification.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”another element, it can be directly on the other element or interveningelements may be present therebetween. In contrast, when an element isreferred to as being “directly on” another element or layer, there areno intervening elements present. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third,etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components and/orsections, these elements, components and/or sections should not belimited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish oneelement, component or section from another element, component orsection. Thus, a first element, component or section discussed belowcould be termed a second element, component or section without departingfrom the teachings of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated components, steps, operations, and/or elements, butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more othercomponents, steps, operations, elements, and/or groups thereof.

Furthermore, relative terms, such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or“top,” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship toanother elements as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understoodthat relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations ofthe device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. Forexample, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elementsdescribed as being on the “lower” side of other elements would then beoriented on “upper” sides of the other elements. The exemplary term“lower”, can therefore, encompasses both an orientation of “lower” and“upper,” depending on the particular orientation of the figure.Similarly, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elementsdescribed as “below” or “beneath” other elements would then be oriented“above” the other elements. The exemplary terms “below” or “beneath”can, therefore, encompass both an orientation of above and below.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein withreference to cross section illustrations that are schematicillustrations of idealized embodiments of the present invention. Assuch, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, forexample, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to beexpected. Thus, embodiments of the present invention should not beconstrued as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustratedherein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example,from manufacturing. For example, a region illustrated or described asflat may, typically, have rough and/or nonlinear features. Moreover,sharp angles that are illustrated may be rounded. Thus, the regionsillustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes arenot intended to illustrate the precise shape of a region and are notintended to limit the scope of the present invention.

All methods described herein can be performed in a suitable order unlessotherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “suchas”), is intended merely to better illustrate the invention and does notpose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwiseclaimed. No language in the specification should be construed asindicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of theinvention as used herein.

Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of a touch screen display deviceand a method of driving the same according to the present invention willbe described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3. FIG. 1 is a blockdiagram of an exemplary embodiment of a touch screen display deviceaccording to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of anexemplary embodiment of a sensing unit 100 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is adiagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the operation of thetouch screen display device shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, the touch screen display device includes a touchscreen display panel 10, a scanning unit 20, a readout unit 50, and thesensing unit 100.

The touch screen display panel 10 includes a plurality of first sensinglines X_1 through X_m which extend in a first direction, a plurality ofsecond sensing lines Y_1 through Y_n which extend in a second directionsubstantially perpendicular to the first direction, and a plurality oftouch sensors TS which are respectively located at sensing positionsdefined at regions where the first sensing lines X_1 through X_m cross,e.g., are vertically aligned with, the second sensing lines Y_1 throughY_n, respectively. That is, the touch screen display panel 10 mayinclude a plurality of sensing positions which are arranged in a matrix,the first sensing lines X_1 through X_m which correspond to columns ofthe sensing positions, respectively, and the second sensing lines Y_1through Y_n which correspond to rows of the sensing positions,respectively.

The touch sensors TS are coupled to the plurality of first and secondsensing lines X_1 through X_m and Y_1 through Y_n. Each of the touchsensors TS provides one of touch data and untouch data according towhether it has been touched or not. In addition, each of the touchsensors TS includes a first sensor electrode (not shown) which isconnected to one of the first sensing lines X_1 through X_m, a secondsensor electrode (not shown) which is connected to one of the secondsensing lines Y_1 through Y_n, and a sensor spacer (not shown) whichcontacts the first and second sensor electrodes to each other when thetouch sensor TS is touched. When the touch sensors TS are touched, thefirst sensing lines X_1 through X_m may be selectively coupled to thesecond sensing lines Y_1 through Y_n.

Although not shown in the drawing, exemplary embodiments of the touchscreen display panel 10 may include a plurality of data lines whichextend substantially parallel to the first direction, a plurality ofgate lines which extend substantially parallel to the second direction,and a plurality of pixels which are defined in regions where the gatelines and the data lines are vertically aligned with one another,respectively. Each of the plurality of pixels may include a switchingelement which is connected to a gate line and a data line, and a liquidcrystal capacitor and a storage capacitor which are connected to theswitching element. In such an exemplary embodiment, the switchingelement is turned on or off according to a voltage level of the gateline. When the switching element is turned on, a voltage applied to thedata line is delivered to the liquid crystal capacitor via the switchingelement. In the exemplary embodiment wherein the touch screen display isa liquid crystal display (“LCD”), the voltage applied to the data lineis then transmitted to a pixel electrode, which controls an orientationof a layer of liquid crystal molecules, which in turn may control thepolarization orientation of light passing therethrough. Accordingly, theamount of light that passes through a substrate of the touch screendisplay is controlled. As a result, an image is displayed on the touchscreen display panel 10. Exemplary embodiments include configurationswherein the touch screen display includes alternative types of displays,such as an organic light-emitting display or other similar type ofdisplay.

The scanning unit 20 is connected to the second sensing lines Y_1through Y_n and enables each of the second sensing lines Y_1 through Y_nsequentially during a frame. Specifically, the scanning unit 20 maytransmit a scanning signal to the second sensing lines Y_1 through Y_nsequentially in response to a scan start signal STV. In one exemplaryembodiment, the scan start signal STV may be applied from an outsidesource. Accordingly, the second sensing lines Y_1 through Y_n may changevoltages from a disable level to an enable level (e.g., in one exemplaryembodiment the enable level may be a ground level). That is, thescanning unit 20 may enable and select the touch sensors TS, which arearranged in a matrix, on a row-by-row basis.

The readout unit 50 is connected to the first sensing lines X_1 throughX_m. The readout unit 50 reads the touch data or the untouch data fromeach touch sensor TS and outputs sensing data DATA corresponding to eachsensing position to the sensing unit 100. Specifically, when thescanning unit 20 selects the touch sensors TS on a row-by-row basis, thereadout unit 50 reads the touch data or the untouch data from each ofthe selected touch sensors TS. That is, the readout unit 50 may read thetouch data or the untouch data from each of the touch sensors TSarranged in a matrix and provide the sensing data DATA on a row-by-rowbasis.

For example, when a second sensing line selected from the second sensinglines Y_1 through Y_n, e.g., Y_1, has a ground level and when a touchsensor TS is touched, e.g., the touch sensor located in theupper-leftmost corner of the display, and thus a corresponding one ofthe first sensing lines X_1 through X_m, e.g., X_1, is coupled to theselected second sensing line, the readout unit 50 may read the touchdata at a low level from the touch sensor TS and provide the read touchdata as the sensing data DATA. On the other hand, when the touch sensorTS is not touched, the corresponding one of the first sensing lines X_1through X_m may be decoupled from the selected second sensing line.Accordingly, the readout unit 50 may read the untouch data at a highlevel from the touch sensor TS and provide the read untouch data as thesensing data DATA.

The sensing unit 100 groups a plurality of sensing positionscorresponding respectively to the touch sensors TS into one or morepre-touch areas using the sensing data DATA and recognizes touchpositions using the pre-touch areas. Referring to FIG. 2, the presentexemplary embodiment of the sensing unit 100 may include a sensing databuffer 120, a touch position determination unit 130, and a sensingtiming controller 110.

The sensing data buffer 120 receives the sensing data DATA from thereadout unit 50 and stores the received sensing data DATA. Specifically,in the present exemplary embodiment the sensing data buffer 120 maystore the sensing data DATA that the readout unit 50 read from the touchsensors TS on a row-by-row basis.

An exemplary embodiment of the sensing unit 100 (specifically, the touchposition determination unit 130) according to the present invention doesnot process the sensing data DATA corresponding to all of the touchsensors TS after the readout unit 50 reads the sensing data DATAcorresponding to all of the touch sensors TS during a frame. Instead, inthe present exemplary embodiment the sensing unit 100 processes thesensing data DATA corresponding to each row of the touch sensors TSimmediately after the readout unit 50 reads the sensing data DATA fromeach row of the touch sensors TS. Therefore, the sensing data buffer 120may not store the sensing data DATA, which corresponds to all of thetouch sensors TS included in the touch screen display panel 10, during aframe, but instead stores the sensing data DATA which corresponds to thetouch sensors TS corresponding to a number of rows of second sensinglines, the number being less than the total number of rows of secondsensing lines. For example, in one exemplary embodiment, the sensingdata buffer 120 may store the sensing data DATA corresponding to aprevious row of the touch sensors TS and the sensing data DATAcorresponding to a current row of the touch sensors TS. Consequently,the size of the sensing data buffer 120 can be reduced as compared to anembodiment wherein data corresponding to all rows are storedsimultaneously.

For ease of description, sensing data provided to the sensing databuffer 120 and sensing data output from the sensing data buffer 120 areindicated by the same reference character “DATA” in FIG. 2.

The touch position determination unit 130 determines touch positionsusing the sensing data DATA stored in the sensing data buffer 120.Specifically, the touch position determination unit 130 groups aplurality of sensing positions into a pre-touch area using the sensingdata DATA provided on a row-by-row basis and recognizes the pre-toucharea as a touch area when the pre-touch area satisfies a predeterminedcondition to be discussed in more detail below. In addition, the touchposition determination unit 130 may output a sensing result S_OUT, whichincludes location values of touch positions, using the number of touchareas recognized during a frame and location values of sensing positionsincluded in the touch areas. The touch position determination unit 130may operate using a clock signal CLK provided by the sensing timingcontroller 110 and start the above operation of recognizing touchpositions, which correspond to a frame, in response to the scan startsignal STV. Exemplary embodiments include configurations wherein thescan start signal STV is the same signal provided to the scanning unit20. The specific operation of the touch position determination unit 130will be described in more detail later with reference to FIGS. 4 through10.

Hereinafter, the operation of the sensing unit 100 will be described indetail with reference to FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, sensing data “0” representsthe touch data, e.g., the presence of a touch, and sensing data “1”represents the untouch data, e.g., the absence of a touch.

The sensing unit 100 groups a plurality of sensing positionscorresponding to the touch sensors TS into one or more pre-touch areasusing the sensing data DATA. Specifically, the sensing unit 100 maygroup the sensing positions that provide only the touch data into one ormore pre-touch areas.

For example, first through third sensing positions may be sequentiallyarranged in the second direction as indicated by reference character “A”of FIG. 3. As shown in this exemplary embodiment, the first and thirdsensing positions may provide the touch data, and the second sensingposition may provide the untouch data. In this case, the exemplaryembodiment of a sensing unit 100 according to the exemplary embodimentsof the present invention may recognize the untouch data provided at thesecond sensing position as the touch data and group the first throughthird sensing positions into one pre-touch area. Various conditions maylead to the sensing position to yield a faulty readout, such asinadequate pressure applied by a user, manufacturing defects within thetouch screen device, e.g., malfunctioning sensors, interference fromother electronic devices, etc., what is desired is an apparatus and/ormethod which recognizes the fault and interprets the faulty readoutcorrectly. That is, even when a sensing position, such as the middleposition of the pre-touch area A, which has actually been touched,provides the untouch data, it can be included in a pre-touch area. Thus,the reliability of the touch screen display device can be enhanced. Thesensing position indicators as shown in FIG. 3 are simply examples ofsensing position data for one frame. The sensing position data will varyfrom frame to frame dependent upon user input.

In another example, first through third sensing positions may besequentially arranged in the second direction as indicated by referencecharacter “B” of FIG. 3. Here, the first and third sensing positions mayprovide the untouch data, and the second sensing position may providethe touch data. In this case, the sensing unit 100 may recognize thetouch data provided at the second sensing position as the untouch data,e.g., the middle sensing position is providing a faulty reading. Thatis, even when a sensing position, which has not actually been touched,provides the touch data, it is recognized as having been untouched.Thus, the reliability of the touch screen display device can beenhanced.

After grouping a plurality of sensing positions into a pre-touch areausing the sensing data DATA, the sensing unit 100 recognizes thepre-touch area as a touch area when the pre-touch area satisfies apredetermined condition. Specifically, when a pre-touch area includestwo or more rows of sensing positions, the sensing unit 100 mayrecognize the pre-touch area as a touch area. However, when sensingpositions included in a pre-touch area are located in a single row, thesensing unit 100 may not recognize the pre-touch area as a touch area,e.g., the sensing unit 100 determines that the sensing positioninformation for the single row is faulty. That is, when sensingpositions included in a pre-touch area correspond to the same sensingline (i.e., when the sensing positions are located in the same row), thesensing unit 10 may not recognize the pre-touch area as a touch area.For example, referring to FIG. 3, the sensing unit 100 may not recognizea pre-touch area III, in which sensing positions are arranged in thesame row (a 110^(th) row), as a touch area.

After recognizing touch areas, the sensing unit 100 outputs locationvalues of touch positions using the number of touch areas recognizedduring a frame and location values of sensing positions included in thetouch areas. For example, when receiving the sensing data DATA shown inFIG. 3, the sensing unit 100 may recognize first and second touch areasI and II and output two as the number of touch areas. In addition, thesensing unit 100 may output a location value (3, 2) of a first touchposition using location values of sensing positions included in thefirst touch area I and output a location value (121, 3) of a secondtouch position using location values of sensing positions included inthe second touch area II, as will be described in more detail below withreference to FIG. 10.

Hereinafter, the operation of the touch position determination unit 130will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 through 8. Forease of description, an exemplary embodiment wherein eight or less touchpositions are recognized during a frame will be described as an example.However, the present invention is not limited to this exemplaryembodiment, and in particular, more touch positions may be recognized.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of theoperation of the touch position determination unit 130 according to thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the touch position determination unit 130 isinitialized in response to the scan start signal STV which is providedfor every frame (operation S10) and reads sensing data which is storedin the sensing data buffer 120 on a row-by-row basis (operation S20).

Then, it is determined whether a second sensing line (hereinafter,referred to as a selected second sensing line, e.g., a second sensingline which receives the enable signal) corresponding to currently readsensing data is the last one Y_n of the second sensing lines Y_1 throughY_n (operation S30). Specifically, the touch position determination unit130 compares a row location value y_cnt of the selected second sensingline with a row location value y_res of the last second sensing line Y_n(or the number of the second sensing lines Y_1 through Y_n) anddetermines whether the selected second sensing line is the last secondsensing line Y_n based on the comparison result. If the selected secondsensing line is the last second sensing line Y_n, the touch positiondetermination unit 130 determines a touch position (operation S400).

However, in one exemplary embodiment, if the selected second sensingline is not the last second sensing line Y_n, the touch positiondetermination unit 130 determines a previous state state_pre based onfirst sensing data new_data[1] from among each row of the sensing data(operation S40). Here, the first sensing data new_data[1] may be sensingdata provided at a sensing position defined by the selected secondsensing line and the first one X_1 of the first sensing lines X_1through X_m. Specifically, when the first sensing data new_data[1] isthe untouch data (represented by “1”), the previous state state_pre maybe a first state STATE0. When the first sensing data new_data[1] is thetouch data (represented by “0”), the previous state state_pre may be asecond state STATE1.

Next, it is determined whether the sensing data of all sensing positionscorresponding to the selected second sensing line has been processed(operation S50). Specifically, a counter value x_cnt (or a columnlocation value) of each sensing data included in the sensing datacurrently read from the sensing data buffer 120 is compared with thenumber x_res of the first sensing lines X_1 through X_m. Then, it isdetermined by the touch determination unit 130 whether the sensing dataof all sensing positions corresponding to the selected second sensingline has been processed based on the comparison result.

When the sensing data of all sensing positions corresponding to theselected second sensing line has been processed, an active secondsensing line is searched for (operation S300). On the other hand, whenthe sensing data of all sensing positions corresponding to the selectedsecond sensing line have not been processed, an active first sensingline from among the first sensing lines X_1 through X_m is searched for(operation S100), and a representative value of the searched activefirst sensing line is determined (operation S200). The above operationsare then repeated. Here, a sensing position, that provides the touchdata may correspond to a combination of an active first sensing linefrom among the first sensing lines X_1 through X_m and an active secondsensing line from among the second sensing lines Y_1 through Y_n.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating operation S100 of FIG. 4 in moredetail. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the operation S110 of FIG. 5 inmore detail.

Referring to FIG. 5, a state (or a current state) state_curcorresponding to each sensing position is determined based on sensingdata corresponding to each sensing position (operation S110).Specifically, referring to FIG. 6, a state may be determined based onwhether sensing data new_data[x_cnt] corresponding to a counter valuex_cnt is the touch data, e.g., (0) or the untouch data, e.g. (1).

For example, in one exemplary embodiment, when the previous statestate_pre is the first state STATE0, if the sensing data new_data[x_cnt]is the untouch data, the first state STATE0 may be maintained. On theother hand, if the sensing data new_data[x_cnt] is the touch data, thefirst state STATE0 may change to the second state STATE1. When theprevious state state_pre is the second state STATE1, if the sensing datanew_data[x_cnt] is the untouch data, the second state STATE1 may changeto the first state STATE0. On the other hand, if the sensing datanew_data[x_cnt] is the untouch data, the second state STATE1 may changeto a third state STATE2.

In addition, when the previous state state_pre is the third stateSTATE2, if the sensing data new_data[x_cnt] is the untouch data, thethird state STATE2 may change to a fourth state STATE3. On the otherhand, if the sensing data new_data[x_cnt] is the touch data, the thirdstate STATE2 may be maintained. When the previous state state_pre is afourth state STATE3, if the sensing data new_data[x_cnt] is the untouchdata, the fourth state STATE3 may change to the first state STATE0. Onthe other hand, if the sensing data new_data[x_cnt] is the touch data,the fourth state STATE3 may change to a fifth state STATE4. When theprevious state state_pre is the fifth state STATE4, if the sensing datanew_data[x_cnt] is the untouch data, the fifth state STATE4 may changeto the first state STATE0. On the other hand, if the sensing datanew_data[x_cnt] is the touch data, the fifth state STATE4 may change tothe third state STATE2.

Next, an active first sensing line X_1 through X_m is searched for usingthe previous state state_pre, the current state state_cur, and thecounter value x_cnt (operation S120). Of three first sensing linesarranged sequentially in the second direction, first and third firstsensing lines may be active first sensing lines, and a second firstsensing line may be a non-active first sensing line. In such anexemplary embodiment, the second first sensing line may be recognized asan active first sensing line in an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. In addition, of three first sensing lines arrangedsequentially in the second direction, first and third first sensinglines may be non-active first sensing lines, and the second firstsensing line may be an active first sensing line. In such an exemplaryembodiment, the second first sensing line may be recognized as anon-active first sensing line.

When two or more active first sensing lines found are arrangedsuccessively in the second direction, a column location value x_startcorresponding to a first one of the found active first sensing lines anda column location value x_end corresponding to a last one of the foundactive first sensing lines are determined.

Specifically, when the previous state state_pre and the current statestate_cur are the second state STATE1 and the third state STATE2,respectively, if the sensing data new_data[x_cnt] is a value of“111100,” the column location value x_start may be x_cnt−1. In addition,when the counter value x_cnt is x_res and when the current statestate_cur is the third state STATE2, if the sensing data new_data[x_cnt]is “100000,” the column location value x_end may be x_cnt. When thecurrent state state_cur is the fourth state STATE3, if the sensing datanew_data[x_cnt] is “100001,” the column location value x_end may bex_cnt−1. When the counter value x_cnt is x_res and when the currentstate state_cur is the fifth state STATE4, if the sensing datanew_data[x_cnt] is “100010,” the column location value x_end may bex_cnt−2. When the previous state state_pre is the fourth state STATE3and the current state state_cur is the first state STATE0, if thesensing data new_data[x_cnt] is “1000011,” the column location valuex_end may be x_cnt−2. When the previous state state_pre is the fifthstate STATE4 and the current state_cur is the first state STATE0, if thesensing data new_data[x_cnt] is “1000101,” the column location valuex_end may be x_cnt−1. In other exemplary, the column location valuex_end may be initialized to zero, and the previous state state_pre maychange to the current state state_cur.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating operation S200 of FIG. 4 in moredetail. FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating an exemplaryembodiment of operation S240 of FIG. 7 in more detail. An exemplaryembodiment wherein a first pre-touch area is recognized will bedescribed below as an example. However, the present invention is notlimited to this exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7, it is determined whether touch data exists in aselected row (or a selected second sensing line) (operation S210). Whenno touch data exists in the selected row, the counter value x_cnt isincreased by one. When the touch data exists in the selected row, it isdetermined whether representative values x1_mid of active first sensinglines in the first pre-touch area have been initialized (operationS220).

In the exemplary embodiment wherein the representative values x1_midhave been initialized, a representative value x1_mid_start of a firstone of the active first sensing lines is determined using the columnlocation values x_start and x_end, and a representative value y1_startof a first one of active second sensing lines is determined using therow location value y_cnt (operation S230). In such an exemplaryembodiment, x_mid_start may be the mean of x_start and x_end. The numbery1_mid of second sensing lines included in the first pre-touch area maybe counted, and sensing data new_data[x1_mid] of a sensing positioncorresponding to x_mid_start may be changed to the touch data. Inaddition, x_start and x_end may be stored in x1_start and x1_end,respectively.

In the exemplary embodiment wherein the representative values x1_midhave not been initialized, it is determined whether sensing positions,which provide the touch data in the selected row, are included in thefirst pre-touch area (operation S240). Specifically, when x_end in aselected row Y_j is less than x1_first in a previous row Y_j−1 as shownin FIG. 8A or when x_start in the selected row Y_is greater than x1_lastin the previous row Y_j−1 as shown in FIG. 8B, it may be determined thatthe sensing positions, which provide the touch data in the selected row,are not included in the first pre-touch area. In other exemplaryembodiments, it may be determined that the sensing positions, whichprovide the touch data in the selected row, are included in the firstpre-touch area.

That is, a first sensing group G1 may include a plurality of sensingpositions which provide the touch data, have a first row location value,and are arranged successively in the second direction, and a secondsensing group G2 may include a plurality of sensing positions whichprovide the touch data, have a second row location value successive tothe first row location value, and are arranged successively in thesecond direction. In such an exemplary embodiment, when a maximum columnlocation value from among column location values of the sensingpositions included in the first sensing group G1 is less than a minimumcolumn location value from among column location values of the sensingpositions included in the second sensing group G2, or when a minimumcolumn location value from among the column location values of thesensing positions included in the first sensing group G1 is greater thana maximum column location value from among the column location values ofthe sensing positions included in the second sensing group G2, the firstand second sensing groups G1 and G2 may be included in differentpre-touch areas.

When the selected row is included in the first pre-touch area, therepresentative values x1_mid of the active first sensing lines in theselected row are determined using x_start and x_end (operation S250). Inone exemplary embodiment, x1_mid may be the mean of x_start and x_end.

The number y1_mid of the second sensing lines included in the firstpre-touch area may be counted, and sensing data new_data[x1_mid] of asensing position corresponding to x1_mid may be changed to the touchdata. In addition, x_start and x_end may be stored in x1_start andx1_end, respectively.

When the selected row is not included in the first pre-touch area, it isdetermined whether the selected row is included in a second pre-toucharea (operation S260).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of operationS300 of FIG. 4 in more detail. An exemplary embodiment wherein a firstpre-touch area is recognized will be described below as an example.However, the present invention is not limited to this exemplaryembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9, it is determined whether a representative valuey1_end of a last active second sensing line in a first pre-touch areahas been initialized, whether the touch data exists in a selected row,and whether the selected row is a last second sensing line (operation310). When the representative value y1_end of the last active secondsensing line in the first pre-touch area has been initialized, when thetouch data exists in the selected row, and when the selected row is thelast second sensing line, a representative value x1_end_end of a lastactive first sensing line is determined using x_mid, and arepresentative value of a last active second sensing line is determinedusing y1_start and y1_mid (operation S320). Then, operation S350, inwhich it is determined whether the selected row is included in a secondpre-touch area, is performed.

In the exemplary embodiment wherein the representative value y1_end ofthe last active second sensing line in the first pre-touch area has notbeen initialized, when the touch data does not exist in the selectedrow, and when the selected row is not the last second sensing line, itis determined whether the selected row, that is, the selected secondsensing line, is an active second sensing line (operation S330).Specifically, when sensing data old_data[x1_mid] of a sensing positioncorresponding to x1_mid in the selected row is the touch data, it isdetermined that the selected second sensing line is an active secondsensing line. Then, operation S20 is performed. Alternatively, whensensing data old_data[x1_mid] of a sensing position corresponding tox1_mid in a previous row is the touch data, if the sensing dataold_data[x1_mid] of the sensing position corresponding to x1_mid in theselected row is the untouch data, it is determined that the selectedsecond sensing line is a non-active second sensing line. Next,representative values x_1mid_end and y1_end of last active first andsecond sensing lines are determined (operation S340). Then, operationS350 is performed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of operationS400 of FIG. 4 in more detail. Referring to FIG. 10, it is determinedwhether pre-touch areas decided through the operations described abovewith reference to FIGS. 5 through 9 are touch areas (operation S410).Specifically, a representative value y[data_cnt]_start of a first activesecond sensing line in each of the pre-touch areas is compared with arepresentative value y[data_cnt]_end of a last active second sensingline. When the difference between the representative valuesy[data_cnt]_start and y[data_cnt]_end is greater than zero, thecorresponding pre-touch area may be recognized as a touch area.Alternatively, when the difference between the representative valuesy[data_cnt]_start and y[data_cnt]_end is zero, that is, when sensingpositions included in a pre-touch area are all located in the same row,the pre-touch area may not be recognized as a touch area.

Next, the number touch_cnt of touch areas and a location value(x[touch_cnt]_pos, y[touch_cnt] pos) of a touch position correspondingto each touch area are determined (operation S420). In this step, alocation value of a touch position may be determined usingrepresentative values x[data_cnt]_mid_start and x[data_cnt]_mid_end offirst and last active first sensing lines and representative valuesy[data_cnt]_start and y[data_cnt]_end of first and last active secondsensing lines. Specifically, a first location value x[touch_cnt]_pos ofa touch position may be determined by calculating the mean of therepresentative values x[data_cnt]_mid_start and x[data_cnt]_mid_end, anda second location value y[touch_cnt]_pos of the touch position may bedetermined by calculating the mean of the representative valuesy[data_cnt]_start and y[data_cnt]_end.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims. Theexemplary embodiments should be considered in a descriptive sense onlyand not for purposes of limitation.

1. A touch screen display device comprising: a touch screen displaypanel comprising: a plurality of first sensing lines which extend in afirst direction; a plurality of second sensing lines which extend in asecond direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction; anda plurality of touch sensors which are respectively located at aplurality of sensing positions defined in regions where the plurality offirst sensing lines are aligned with the plurality of second sensinglines, respectively, and each of which provides one of a touch data andan untouch data according to whether an individual touch sensorcorresponding to the aligned first sensing line and second sensing linehas been touched; a readout unit which reads one of the touch data andthe untouch data from each of the touch sensors and outputs the readdata as sensing data corresponding to each of the sensing positions; anda sensing unit which groups the sensing positions into at least onepre-touch area using the sensing data and which recognizes at least onetouch positions using the at least one pre-touch area, wherein at leastone touch sensor provides touch data, wherein when a first sensingposition and a third sensing position from among first through thirdsensing positions arranged sequentially in the second direction providethe touch data while the second sensing position provides the untouchdata, the sensing unit recognizes the untouch data provided at thesecond sensing position as the touch data and groups the first throughthird sensing positions into a pre-touch area.
 2. The display device ofclaim 1, wherein when all sensing positions included in a pre-touch areacorrespond to a same second sensing line of the plurality of secondsensing lines, the pre-touch area is recognized as an untouch position.3. The display device of claim 1, wherein when the first sensingposition and the third sensing position from among the first throughthird sensing positions arranged sequentially in the second directionprovide the untouch data while the second sensing position provides thetouch data, the sensing unit recognizes the touch data provided at thesecond sensing position as the untouch data.
 4. The display device ofclaim 1, wherein each sensing position which provides the touch datacorresponds to a combination of an active first sensing line from amongthe plurality of first sensing lines and an active second sensing linefrom among the plurality of second sensing lines, and the grouping ofthe sensing positions into the pre-touch areas in the sensing unitcomprises: searching for the active first sensing line from among theplurality of first sensing lines; and searching for the active secondsensing line from among the plurality of second sensing lines.
 5. Thedisplay device of claim 4, wherein the searching of the active firstsensing line in the sensing unit comprises: determining whether each ofthe plurality of first sensing lines is the active first sensing lineusing the sensing data which corresponds to each of the sensingpositions defined by a second sensing line selected from the pluralityof second sensing lines and the plurality of first sensing lines and,when first first sensing lines and third first sensing lines from amongthree first sensing lines arranged sequentially in the second directionare the active first sensing lines while a second first sensing line isa non-active first sensing line; and recognizing the second firstsensing line as the active first sensing line.
 6. The display device ofclaim 5, wherein the searching of the active first sensing line in thesensing unit comprises: determining a state corresponding to eachsensing position based on the sensing data corresponding to each sensingposition; and recognizing whether each of the plurality of first sensinglines is the active first sensing line based on a determined state. 7.The display device of claim 5, wherein when two or more active firstsensing lines found are arranged successively in the second direction,representative location values of the found active first sensing linesare determined using column location values which correspondrespectively to first active first sensing lines and last active firstsensing lines from among the found active first sensing lines.
 8. Thedisplay device of claim 1, wherein when a first sensing group comprisesa plurality of sensing positions which provide the touch data have afirst row location value, and are arranged successively in the seconddirection, and when a second sensing group comprises a plurality ofsensing positions which provide the touch data, have a second rowlocation value successive to the first row location value, and arearranged successively in the second direction, when a maximum columnlocation value from among column location values of the sensingpositions included in the first sensing group is less than a minimumcolumn location value from among column location values of the sensingpositions included in the second sensing group and when a minimum columnlocation value from among the column location values of the sensingpositions included in the first sensing group is greater than a maximumcolumn location value from among the column location values of thesensing positions included in the second sensing group, the firstsensing group and the second sensing group are included in differentpre-touch areas.
 9. The display device of claim 1, wherein the sensingunit comprises: a sensing data buffer which stores the sensing datacorresponding to each of the sensing positions defined by the firstsensing lines and two adjacent second sensing lines; and a touchposition determination unit which outputs a number of touch positionsrecognized during a frame and location values of the touch positionsusing the sensing data stored in the sensing data buffer.
 10. Thedisplay device of claim 9, further comprising a scanning unit whichsequentially enables the plurality of second sensing lines, wherein thereadout unit reads one of the touch data and the untouch data from eachof the touch sensors coupled to the enabled second sensing lines.
 11. Atouch screen display device comprising: a touch screen display panelcomprising: a plurality of first sensing lines which extend in a firstdirection; a plurality of second sensing lines which extend in a seconddirection substantially perpendicular to the first direction; and aplurality of touch sensors which are respectively located at a pluralityof sensing positions defined in regions where the plurality of firstsensing lines are aligned with the plurality of second sensing lines,respectively, and each of which provides one of a touch data and anuntouch data according to whether an individual touch sensorcorresponding to the aligned first sensing line and second sensing linehas been touched; a readout unit which reads one of the touch data andthe untouch data from each of the plurality of touch sensors and outputsthe read data as sensing data corresponding to each of the plurality ofsensing positions; and a sensing unit which groups the sensing positionsinto at least one pre-touch area using the sensing data and whichrecognizes at least one touch position using the at least one pre-toucharea when at least one touch sensor provides touch data, wherein whenall of a plurality of sensing positions included in a pre-touch areacorrespond to the same second sensing line, the pre-touch area isrecognized as an untouch position.
 12. The display device of claim 11,wherein when a first sensing position and a third sensing position fromamong first through third sensing positions arranged sequentially in thesecond direction provide the untouch data while the second sensingposition provides the touch data, the sensing unit recognizes the touchdata provided at the second sensing position as the untouch data. 13.The display device of claim 11, wherein the sensing unit comprises: asensing data buffer which stores the sensing data corresponding to eachof the sensing positions defined by the plurality of first sensing linesand two adjacent ones of the plurality of second sensing lines; and atouch position determination unit which outputs a number of touchpositions recognized during a frame and location values of the touchpositions using the sensing data stored in the sensing data buffer. 14.A method of driving a touch screen display device, the methodcomprising: reading one of touch data and untouch data from each of aplurality of touch sensors and providing the read data as sensing datawhich corresponds to each of a plurality of sensing positionscorresponding to respective locations of the plurality of touch sensors;and grouping the sensing positions into at least one pre-touch areabased on the sensing data and recognizing one or more touch positionsbased on the at least one pre-touch area using a sensing unit when atleast one touch sensor reads touch data, wherein each of the pluralityof touch sensors are respectively located at the plurality of sensingpositions which are defined in regions where a plurality of firstsensing lines extending in a first direction respectively are alignedwith a plurality of second sensing lines extending in a seconddirection, and, in the grouping of the sensing positions into thepre-touch areas, when a first sensing position and a third sensingposition from among first through third sensing positions arrangedsequentially in the second direction provide the touch data while thesecond sensing position provides the untouch data, the untouch dataprovided at the second sensing position is recognized as the touch data,and the first through third sensing positions are grouped into apre-touch area.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein when all of aplurality of sensing positions included in a pre-touch area correspondto a same second sensing line, the pre-touch area is recognized as anuntouch position.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein when the firstsensing position and the third sensing position from among first throughthird sensing positions arranged sequentially in the second directionprovide the untouch data while the second sensing position provides thetouch data the grouping of the sensing positions into the pre-touchareas comprises recognizing the touch data provided at the secondsensing position as the untouch data.
 17. The method of claim 14,wherein the providing of the read data as the sensing data comprises:sequentially enabling the second sensing lines; and reading at least oneof the touch data and the untouch data from each of the touch sensorscoupled to the enabled second sensing lines.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein when the sensing data, which corresponds to the touch sensorscoupled to the enabled second sensing lines, is provided on a row-by-rowbasis, the sensing unit is supplied with the sensing data.